Stand up to developers

Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 13/3/2014 (1001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It appears city council and developer Andrew Marquess have become just a little too cosy with each other (Developer dinged for $170,000, March 12).

In many other jurisdictions, the offending buildings would have been simply ordered bulldozed, but instead city council set a "fine" (it might be called a "licence fee" in Marquess' office) at $250,000.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Developer Andrew Marquess erected two buildings on land that was to be set aside for a park. Purchase Photo Print

Then Coun. Mike Pagtakhan stuck his nose in and recommended the fine be lowered to $70,000 (plus loss of $100,000 deposit). All in favour? The ayes have it.

Coun. Jeff Browaty states: "We don't have an inspector on every corner." Why don't we? Evidently we can't trust councillors to stand up to errant developers.

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